The House That Built Me
by kenziebabe91
Summary: Rory reminisces about her life and what has happened. Songfic to Miranda Lambert's The House That Built Me. Takes place season 6. Slightly AU. Enjoy!


Hey Guys! Right now I'm sitting in my school dining hall before my next class and an idea hit me. This is just going to be a oneshot songfic to Miranda Lambert's The House That Built Me. It's an AU fic where Lorelai and Luke have moved into the Twickum House in season six while Lorelai and Rory are estranged. Rory comes back to the crap shack for a chance to remember herself.

The House That Built Me

Rory Gilmore stood outside by the rooster mailbox. It had been six months since her mom and Luke moved into the Twickum house and nine months since she moved in with her grandparents. She never thought that her and her mother would ever go through this; they had always been best friends and always wound up getting along in the end. But when Rory quit Yale she knew she had broken her mom's heart and dreams.

She walked up to the front porch and remembered where the hole from the termites was. She gave a slight chuckle at the memory and knocked at the door.

"Hello. May I help you?" A blonde lady in her mid-thirties asked.

"Hi, you may not know me but I'm Rory Gilmore. I used to live here."

"Ahhh yes, I've heard a lot about you from the town. Yale right?"

Rory nodded deciding not to answer completely.

"So what may I help you with? I'm Janine by the way."

"Janine, I was wondering if I could just come in and see this place again. I know that it might be weird but there are just so many memories here that I need to relive just for a moment."

"Ummm…." Janine pondered not wanting to let a stranger into her home. She looked at Rory's pleading eyes seeing that she could do no harm. "Alright, I doubt you're an axe murderer. On one condition though…"

"What is it?"

"You take me on your walk down memory lane with you."

"I don't mind. It is your house too." Rory replied. "Let's start at porch. Right where I'm standing, there used to be a hole right here. Mom had just woken up and gotten her coffee and she walked out and crash! Right through wood." Rory chuckled. "It's all fixed and good now but, I remember I laughed and it eventually became funny for mom too."

Janine nodded and led Rory into the living room.

"Ahh the living room! We would have the best times here! Every Friday night we would have a movie night. Junk food, classic movies, the works! Mom taught me so much about movies and pop culture here. I also remember having my first boyfriend over in this living room for the first time. I was 16 and I was so crazy about him."

"What happened to him?"

"A lot. We broke up, got back together, Broke up again. Then he got married and then divorced and then we went out once again and then finally we broke up. He moved out of Stars Hollow and I haven't really heard from him but I hope he's having a great and happy life." Rory explained.

"Your first love huh?"

"Yeah, definitely." Rory replied.

They walked over to the kitchen and she saw that it still looked the same.

"You know we hardly cooked in this kitchen?" Rory said. "Other than pop tarts and moms famous Eggo waffles and of course you can't forget coffee. I think the only people who cooked here were Sookie and Luke. But I still loved this place, when we first moved here when I was 9 my mom kept promising to take cooking lessons so she could cook us a real dinner. She had one lesson and almost burnt down Sookie's kitchen and we knew that was the last of Lorelai Gilmore's cooking."

"I was wondering why this kitchen was in such pristine condition." Janine chuckled. "What's next?"

Rory walked to the door and opened what used to be her room, which was now an office.

"This used to be my room. I remember my mom getting me my desk so that I could study so that I could go to Harvard."

"Harvard? I thought you went to Yale?"

"I do, or I did….I originally wanted to go to Harvard. I remember when I was deciding which school to go to. I was having the hardest time deciding. Everyone in town knew how much I wanted to go to Harvard, but my heart was pulling for Yale. Right there…." Rory said pointing to the wall. "I had all these Harvard flags and decals and one night my mom took all of them down and replaced them with Yale things. She knew how much I wanted to go there and supported me so much…."

_I know they say you can't go home again,  
I just had to come back one last time,  
Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam,  
But these hand prints on the front steps are mine._

_Up those stairs in that little back bedroom,  
Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar,  
I bet you didn't know under that live oak,  
My favorite dog is buried in the yard._

Rory kept thinking about when everything had changed. She couldn't remember when her and her mother had breakfast at Luke's together, or spoke on the phone all night, or had their movie nights. When had she become this person who didn't speak to her best friend or who snapped at her mother or betrayed her favorite person? She just didn't know. She hoped that coming back to the crapshack could bring that girl back. The girl who was studious, kind, and always cared about her mother. She wasn't sure if this trip would help but she sure as hell prayed it would.

I_ thought if I could touch this place or feel it,  
This brokenness inside me might start healing,  
Out here it's like I'm someone else,  
I thought that maybe I could find myself,  
If I could just come in I swear I'll leave,  
Won't take nothin but a memory,  
From the house that built me._

* * *

"So how long did you live here for?" Janine asked. They had decided to take a break and have some coffee and pie.

"We moved here to Stars Hollow when I was just a baby. Mom left a world of money so that she could raise me on her own terms. When we moved to Stars Hollow we lived in the potting shed of the Independence Inn. I remember mom would always tell me 'One day Ror, we're gonna have a place of our own. A kitchen, an actual bathroom, our own rooms with our own beds, it's gonna happen, I promise kid.'" Rory reminisced. "When we finally got this place I knew it was her dream come true. Everything she had worked for was here. She had her own room, an actual bathroom, an a kitchen. She was so proud." Rory now had tears in her eyes over her memories.

"Are you okay?" Janine consoled.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking. My mom had me at sixteen and left a life of privilege to become a maid so that she could raise me the way she wanted to. She worked so hard and finally got this house for us and she filled it with things we both loved so that I could be happy as well." Rory explained. "I just don't know where it went…"

_Mama cut out pictures of houses for years,  
From Better Homes and Garden magazine,  
Plans were drawn and concrete poured, Nail by nail and board by board,  
Daddy gave life to mamas dream._

_I thought if I could touch this place or feel it,  
This brokenness inside me might start healing,  
Out here it's like I'm someone else,  
I thought that maybe I could find myself,  
If I could just come in I swear I'll leave,  
Won't take nothin but a memory,  
From the house that built me._

"What do you mean by 'Where it went.'?" Asked Janine.

"A few months ago I stole a yacht. I got arrested and my mom picked me up. She never gave me a lecture about it. Until I dropped out of Yale; she was so upset. She never got to graduate high school or go to a real university and have an actual college experience. She wanted me to have everything she didn't." Rory began. "She begged me to rethink my options. She even went to her parents, who she doesn't always see eye to eye with and begged them to knock some sense into me; but I turned against her, I got angry and betrayed her and went to my grandparents and moved in with them and complete shut her out." Rory was now crying. "I'm the worst child in the world. I've turned into this person who I hate. I didn't think that this would happen but it has, I've become someone who I would never ever talk to."

Janine grasped Rory's hand and tried to comfort the girl who sat in her kitchen.

"You're not an awful child. Every mother and daughter goes through trouble. Maybe you needed this to help you realize how much you need your mother…." Janine consoled. "Rory, may I ask why you came back here today?"

"I just thought that if I could come back to this house I could be me again. After I left Stars Hollow I don't know who I've become. I just wanted all these memories to bring me back to the Rory who went to Chilton and pigged out on junk food with her mom. I wanted the memories to fix me."

Janine went in and hugged Rory. She no longer cared that the girl was a complete stranger to her but wanted to comfort the crying girl who was having a hard time.

"It'll all be okay." Janine assured.

_You leave home you move on and you do the best you can,  
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am,_

_I thought if I could touch this place or feel it,  
This brokenness inside me might start healing,  
Out here it's like I'm someone else,  
I thought that maybe I could find myself,  
If I could walk around I swear I'll leave,  
Won't take nothin but a memory,  
From the house that built me._

* * *

Rory Gilmore stood on the porch and took a deep breath. She didn't know why she was here but she lifted her hand and knocked on the door.

"Hello…." The door opened.

"Mom."

"Rory."

"Mom, I'm so sorry!" Rory cried hugging Lorelai. "I'm such an awful child, I was horrible to you and I shouldn't have left Yale or moved in with Grandma and Grandpa. I'm so awful. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Lorelai stroked her daughters' hair and cried softly at having her baby back in her arms.

"I know kid, I know."

"Can I come in?" Rory asked hesitantly.

"Of course you can." Lorelai said leading her daughter into her new home.

"I missed you mom."

"I missed you too kid."

Lorelai and Rory walked into the house and shut the door completely ready to forgive each other and start of fresh.

Hope you all enjoyed this songfic/oneshot. I really, really loved writing this mostly because I love this song so much. For you all haven't heard this song I really recommend that you do. Also check out the cover by Veronica Ballestrini on youtube (.com/watch?v=vdslx_D6LOg). I hope you all have a wonderful day/night. Please review!


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